American Muscle Cars, Oldsmobile Cutlass 442 - Six Pack

Oldsmobile Cutlass 442 Six-Pack

With the continuing scramble for placement in the muscle car category, Oldsmobile in 1966 released two new engine options.

The L69 and the rare W30 option of the 442 engine had three two-barrel Carter carburetors “(Six-Pack)” or “(Tri-Power)” with progressive linkage added to it giving the 442 more than adequate muscle. This addition gave it a horsepower rating of 360 hp and 440 lb-ft of torque. The standard engine now dubbed L78, was rated at 350 hp with 440 lb-ft of torque with a single four-barrel carburetor. The W30 engine option had an outside-air induction system connected to the front bumper that allowed cool air to the carburetor and a hotter cam rated the same as the L69 or slightly under the muscle rating of the L69. To allow for this addition of hoses the battery was relocated to the trunk. The battery relocation made it impossible for convertible models to be ordered with this option. With only 54 of the W30s built by the factory, an additional 97 were produced for dealer installation.

The L69 442 with a four-speed transmission was tested by Car Life and it received a 0-60 time of 6.3 seconds, in the ¼ mile the 442 did 14.8 seconds at 97 mph.

Motor Trend also tested a similar car, it received 0-60 time of 7.2 seconds, and a ¼ mile time of 15.2 seconds at 96.6 mph.

Even with production slumping to 21,997, the 442 muscle car still only represented about 10 percent of the Cutlass sales for Oldsmobile. Pontiac’s GTO represented nearly one third of the Tempest sales for Pontiac.

American Muscle cars